Woman Guilty In Assault

NEWPORT NEWS — A Florida schoolteacher awaits sentencing in U.S. District Court in Norfolk after pleading guilty to assaulting a flight attendant on a flight to Newport News from Atlanta.

Valjean Marguriet, 55, who had been drinking alcohol on the July 10 AirTran Airways flight, was indicted on charges of assaulting a fellow passenger, assaulting a flight attendant, and interfering with a flight attendant.

The charges came after authorities said she shook the arm of a fellow passenger and struck a male flight attendant in the face during Flight 954 when it was about 45 miles from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

Once the plane was on the ground, airport security officers escorted Marguriet off the plane. She told investigators she had been drinking, saying she had one drink on a leg from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta, another drink during a layover at the Atlanta airport, and a third drink on the flight to Newport News.

The interference charge was the most serious allegation, a felony offense that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The assault charges, both misdemeanors, carry a penalty of up to six years in prison and fines of up to $5,000 apiece.

In a plea agreement accepted by a judge on Sept. 17, Marguriet admitted to assaulting the flight attendant. The other assault charge and the interference charge were dropped by the U.S. Attorney's office under the terms of the plea bargain. She is set to be sentenced by District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith on Dec. 11. Marguriet, who has been released on bond, teaches at Pompano Beach High School, in Broward County, Fla. The school's Web site says she teaches reading, French and English as a second language. She has a previous conviction, in 1998, of driving under the influence while in the company of a juvenile.